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Monday, April 16, 2012

The winner of the Tropical Traditions giveaway is "Ha-v-v"!! She says about her plans for the coconut oil: "I plan to use the coconut oil for one thing is those chocolate chip cookies first!!!!!!! I cannot wait to try them. I have actually been researching coconut oil for a carrier oil and a natural sunscreen ingredient. The research has shown me some wonderful things, coconut oils properties are something I want to incorporate into our foods, homemade salves etc."

Congratulations! I'm so excited for you :D. Please email me at cookingactress@yahoo.com to claim your prize.

And thank you to everyone who entered!

(Thank you everyone for all your support and well wishes for the premiere this weekend, I absolutely loved the movie and we won the People's Choice Award!!)

Today is a very exciting day! Tropical Traditions is sponsoring my first ever giveaway (scroll past the recipe)(giveaway closed)-AND they were sweet enough to provide me with a jar of their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil. OMG (I think I overuse OMG, sorry!)-if you haven't heard about the awesomeness of coconut oil yet, look into it. I have a friend who uses it (in place of butter or shortening) in every recipe she bakes, she puts it in her hair, to cleanse/moisturize her face (which I tried-it's awesome, and smells amazinggg-even though Michael refuses to kiss me because I "smell coconut-y"), and for a bunch of other stuff! There's a lot of great information on all the links in this post, and you can also just google to find out more about the wonders of coconut oil :).

For this post, I threw around the idea of developing my own recipe, but first I went into my stockpile of must-make-recipes and found this chocolate chip cookie! They looked so chewy and gooey and-gasp-they don't have any butter! Just coconut oil! And, there's only brown sugar, no white sugar. I was extremely intrigued.
I was also a little surprised when I received my jar of coconut oil and it was a solid-not a liquid! Turns out, in temperatures under 76 degrees F, it solidifies. But there are super easy instructions on the jar label (just sit it in some warm/hot water until it liquefies). I didn't liquefy the entire thing for these cookies, just enough for me to pour out into a 1/2 cup amount.

The cookie dough is delicious. I had to wrestle it away from Michael. You can definitely taste the coconut more in the dough than in the finished cookie. I made the decision to rest my cookie dough in the refrigerator for awhile before baking. This was a result of two things: 1) Everyone says the longer you rest cookie dough, the better the cookies are 2) I made the dough at nighttime and the light for pictures was non-existent, so I figured I'd wait to make the cookies until daytime.

I don't know if it was the resting, or the recipe, or some combination of the two (that's my guess) but these were the perfect, quintessential chocolate chip cookies! Perfectly chewy and gooey on the inside, and crisp and beautiful on the outside! I did not miss the butter at all-I honestly could not tell the difference between these and cookies made with butter, except for the very very faint hint of coconut you can taste if you really concentrate (I obviously concentrate very hard whilst eating cookies, since it should be a transcendental experience of the palate...some people have wine, I have cookies. :P). I think the coconut oil makes them just a little sweeter, too, which probably contributes to the lack of white sugar in the recipe. And-you can feel a little less guilty about these! Yay!

I don't even have words for how delicious that picture is-and let me tell you, it barely does these cookies justice. If I had children, and had to make a bunch of cookies for them and their friends, these would be my go-to. For sure. (Assuming those children do not have gluten allergies...but...well...you know what I'm saying!)

I could go on about how amazing coconut oil is, and how many things I'm looking forward to doing, cooking, and baking with it (oatmeal cookies with coconut oil sound PHENOMENAL), but you guys would be here all day. So! Carry on my wayward readers, there will be a giveaway when you are done :P.

In a large bowl beat together coconut oil, eggs, and brown sugar (using either a hand mixer or a stand).

Add salt, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and flour-mix well.

Mix in chocolate chips.

Let dough rest, covoered, in the refrigerator for 8-72 hours.

Roll dough into large balls (I used an ice cream scoop, should equal around 3 tbsp. of dough). Place about 6 dough balls per cookie sheet.

Bake 8-11 minutes, until cookies are browning around edges.

Remove and allow to cool (slightly. Then eat a few fresh and warm from the oven).

GIVEAWAY! (CLOSED)

Tropical Traditions is also hosting a giveaway for Cooking Actress readers!! They will be providing a free quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil as the prize and ship directly to one lucky winner. Giveaway closes April 23rd @ 12 AM EST.After the contest is over, I will send the winner an email (so please make sure you provide an email address or some other way to get in touch with you), and obtain shipping information (we do not share this information with anyone). The winner will have 3 days to respond or another winner will be chosen. The winner will be chosen via a random number generator. Open to U.S. & Canada. How to enter: (REQUIRED FOR ENTRY IN THIS GIVEAWAY) Subscribe to Tropical Traditions' newsletter here-http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/subscribe_for_special_sales.cfm and leave me a comment, letting me know you did so. Maybe also let me know-how would you use your coconut oil? :)Additional entries:(you will receive one additional entry for each of the following--so if you leave a comment for all of them, you can have up to a total of 7 entries/chances to win! MAKE SURE TO LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY)

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product. My opinions, as always, are all my own.

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comments:

These cookies look like they could be very addictive. Love the melty chips as well as the toasty edges. Coconut oil is a great ingredient for baked goods! Unfortunately I still have a lot left from my last purchase so I will be opting out of your sweet giveaway. Good luck to the entrants and Happy Monday!

Holy chocolately chip cookie goodness. They look like they're busting with chocolate, mmmm! And the coconut oil sounds fantastic, I love me a wee bit of coconut. I might make these and since you said the coconut is very faint after baking, might add me in some desiccated coconut too. Om nom nom!

They look perfectly gooey and melt in the mouth. I bet the baking aroma was amazing!

OMG...you can never overuse OMG :) I need one of those cookies. Like right now. The bottom ooey gooey picture looks amazingggggg! I've never cooked with coconut oil but I always hear such good things, I think the whole solid at room temp thing kinda freaked me out but I will have to try now! Seriously those cookies look fantastic!!

I'm opting out of the giveaway, but I love the look of these cookies - they're such a perfect color and texture... And I've been meaning to work with coconut oil but just haven't taken the time to work it into any recipes ;)

Kayle, I know I already left some love for these cookies, but wanted to drop by again (to stare at them again) and let know I am featuring this post in today's Friday Food Fetish roundup (with a link-back and attribution), but please let me know if you have any objections. As always, it's a pleasure to be following your creations…

I've never had chocolate chip cookies w/ COCONUT oil before, but the one picture w/ the gooey chocolate oozing out of the cookie made me SOOO want one! Oh, and I already love you, but you knew that. LOL

I already subscribe to TT newsletter and love to use coconut oil in making rice, quinoa hot cereal to give them an nice buttery flavor. I also use coconut oil to make pancakes and other baked goods!Lyn

I'm subscribed to TT's newsletter and I've been reading on their 'uses for coconut oil' page. I'd like to make my own mayo and ketchup. I already use it for frying and a skin conditioner and I also mix it with chocolate to coat nuts.

I followed Tropical Traditions on pinterst Denise Stone Benner, I plan to use the coconut oil for one thing is those chocolate chip cookies first!!!!!!! I cannot wait to try them. I have actually been researching coconut oil for a carrier oil and a natural sunscreen ingredient. The research has shown me some wonderful things, coconut oils properties are something I want to incorporate into our foods, homemade salves etc.

OMG. That picture with the bites... yeah, almost made me eat my arm off. I'm sorry if my comment is throwing off your giveaway, I won't be entering... I just thought you should know I am DEFINITELY making these cookies when I have time!! :)

Thank you so much, I am such a sappy gal, tears came even. I guess because it is something so important to me. I have been researching just recently about the properties of coconut oil. I even found articles on it for Alzheimer. That is something on our hearts always after losing a loved one to it. So again thank you for the gift, it will be put to good use I assure you. Those cookies !!! My sons will love this, especially the last convert to the healthy lifestyle :-D The others see the logic behind it :) Denise :-D

I add a cup of sweetened coconut and it takes it to the next level. Very chewy and delicious..did I mention that I HATE coconut? I use coconut oil for my hair and skin and a spoonful to my morning bowl of oatmeal. Now, I'm starting to bake with it.

These are the best chocolate chip cookies ever. I've made them with coconut oil and butter (when I didn't have any coconut oil) Awesome both ways, but outstanding with coconut oil! We don't even bother with any other recipe.